RI woman has a passion for greener, more frugal living

Saturday

Jan 27, 2018 at 2:00 AM

A passion for living the organic life — and a nasty sunscreen burn — is what started one woman on her road to research and writing.

Diana Green — a pen name — has always lived with sensitive skin, but when she got burned several years ago, from her sunscreen not the sun, she turned her attention to the ingredients in popular store-bought products.

Her skin was red, itchy and warm to the tough, just like a sunburn.

“It was a chemical burn that I mistook for sunburn,” Green said. “I realized I was allergic to the chemicals in sunscreen.”

There were other products that bothered her sensitive skin too like soaps, lotions and even jewelry.

“My skin’s always been very sensitive. It’s either gotten worse or I’m more conscious of it,” she said.

Green, of Middletown, Rhode Island, started looking online for healthier sunscreen, and when she couldn’t find one without a long list of chemicals she couldn’t pronounce, she found a recipe and made it herself. She repeated that process for soap, and learned to make her own laundry detergent and teeth whitener.

“I like to experiment and play around,” Green said.

The natural care products she makes and in some cases buys are all on her blog, “My Greener Living,” a labor of love since 2016.

That’s because she tests everything first and is sure to post precise recipes, reviews, cost and links.

She said there’s a stigma that “everything good and healthy” costs more, and it isn’t true. But, making her own products does cost her in time.

Green said she spent about five or six hours making soap, but that batch has lasted nearly two years.

Even people without skin allergies might want to consider switching to more naturally derived products, she said.

Green, 30, said that while she is not a doctor (she’s an engineer) she has done research and points to the many new chemical compositions being used today as opposed to years ago. She said she wonders if chemicals are playing a role in disease and deficiencies.

“They’re adding in these things we never would have had in the past,” Green said.

Some of her blog posts are dedicated to frugality, as well as living naturally. She said stretching her dollars in the home and in her pantry is another interest.

“I was raised by a very frugal mom. She was always money conscious,” Green said.

Green said being frugal is different from being “cheap.” She said it’s an “awareness of what things cost,” and choosing to spend wisely.

She said she’d rather spend money on good things that last and on travel, rather than on wasteful purchases.

“I find it fun too,” she said. “I kind of like the thrill of the hunt.”

Green also likes that being frugal fits with being kind to the planet. Buying used clothing, she said, cuts down on waste and cost. Cooking most of her meals means saving money on take-out and controlling ingredients.

“I work hard for what I earn, and I don’t want to waste it,” she said on one of her blogs.